Chor Bazaar, located in South Mumbai, is one of the largest flea markets in India. The word chor means thief in Marathi and Hindi. The market is thought to have originally been called Shor Bazaar, meaning noisy market. The current name is said to have come from a British mispronunciation. Eventually however, stolen goods started finding their way into the market, resulting in it living up to its new name. According to popular legend, if you lose anything in Mumbai you can buy it back from the "Chor Bazaar". In spite of this reputation, Chor Bazaar is said to sell mostly second-hand goods rather than stolen goods.
A popular story about the origin of the name of the market is that a violin and some other belongings of Queen Victoria went missing while being unloaded from her ship while on a visit to Bombay, and were later found for sale in “Chor Bazaar”.
Come join me in a walk through this legendary flea market of Mumbai and see if we can find something worth buying. If nothing, the vibrancy of the place will be invigorating!
